Kendall Coffey: Texas Abortion Decision Has Sweeping Ramifications

The Supreme Court's decision not to intervene in a long legal dispute over a new law that Planned Parenthood says unconstitutionally restricts women's rights may have sweeping ramifications, legal analyst Kendall Coffey says.

A dozen Texas abortion clinics have been shuttered in the past month after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law, which requires a doctor performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

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"Normally, when a court says five to four, we're going to leave the law in place on something like this, it suggests that five justices may be prepared to uphold the Texas law on this significant issue," Coffey of the law firm Coffey Burlington told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"If that's the case, this ruling, which may have looked procedural, although it obviously affected many in Texas . . . could be of dramatic importance."

So far, no more than 20 clinics have been able to meet the new standard.

The Supreme Court's decision not to intervene in a long legal dispute over a new law that Planned Parenthood says unconstitutionally restricts women's rights may have sweeping ramifications, legal analyst Kendall Coffey says.